††††††††
†††† ††††
†† ††
† †
† †
† the glass factory. †
† †
† †
†† ††
†††† ††††
††††††††
##£§†/«~,, several centuries after it had last ,,~«/†§£##
#£§†/«~,,, belonged to us, we went on an outing to ,,,~«/†§£#
£§†/«~,,,, the glass factory that bore our family ,,,,~«/†§£
§†/«~,,,,, name. it had changed owners many times ,,,,,~«/†§
†/«~,,,,,, since our ancestors death, and then ,,,,,,~«/†
/«~,,,,,,, stood abandoned for a long while. ,,,,,,,~«/
«~,,,,,,,, finally, the natural end station for ,,,,,,,,~«
~,,,,,,,,, the buildings that survive: a museum, ,,,,,,,,,~
,,,,,,,,,, and a gift shop. ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, there's a long time since my family ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, made anything. by many, we would be ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, considered poor. ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, there are two main factory buildings, ,,,,,,,,,,
~,,,,,,,,, domed things of several floors, made in ,,,,,,,,,~
«~,,,,,,,, yellow brick. large but narrow windows, ,,,,,,,,~«
/«~,,,,,,, reminescent of some cathedral. ,,,,,,,~«/
†/«~,,,,,, custom-made glass, of course, large and ,,,,,,~«/†
§†/«~,,,,, leaded, and ashen. a bit too dark to be ,,,,,~«/†§
£§†/«~,,,, practical. on the eastern building, ,,,,~«/†§£
#£§†/«~,,, some are shattered. ,,,~«/†§£#
##£§†/«~,, ,,~«/†§£##
###£§†/«~, the other one is publicly open. there's ,~«/†§£###
##£§†/«~,, a museum, with wax figures of my great ,,~«/†§£##
#£§†/«~,,, great great grandfather, or something. ,,,~«/†§£#
£§†/«~,,,, various tools (or replicas) laid out on ,,,,~«/†§£
§†/«~,,,,, tables, with explaining texts. a lot of ,,,,,~«/†§
†/«~,,,,,, glass of varying thickness. ,,,,,,~«/†
/«~,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,~«/
«~,,,,,,,, †† ,,,,,,,,~«
~,,,,,,,,, †† †† ,,,,,,,,,~
,,,,,,,,,, ««««««« † † ««««««« ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, †† †† ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, †† ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, i quickly sneak out, and climb into the ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, other building. the contrast is ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, overwhelming. it must have stood ,,,,,,,,,,
~,,,,,,,,, derelict for a long time, windows ,,,,,,,,,~
«~,,,,,,,, broken, metallic trash and pools of ,,,,,,,,~«
/«~,,,,,,, dark glass all over the floor. no ,,,,,,,~«/
†/«~,,,,,, electric lights, but i can see by the ,,,,,,~«/†
§†/«~,,,,, light that shines in wherever the dark ,,,,,~«/†§
£§†/«~,,,, windows are missing a pane. ,,,,~«/†§£
#£§†/«~,,, ,,,~«/†§£#
##£§†/«~,, however, the greatest difference is the ,,~«/†§£##
###£§†/«~, higher floors: this building has none. ,~«/†§£###
##£§†/«~,, it is one massive hall, stretching away ,,~«/†§£##
#£§†/«~,,, infinitely above me. somewhere up there ,,,~«/†§£#
£§†/«~,,,, is some great iron latticework, from ,,,,~«/†§£
§†/«~,,,,, where chains are suspended, and parts ,,,,,~«/†§
†/«~,,,,,, of machinery has been falling down. ,,,,,,~«/†
/«~,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,~«/
«~,,,,,,,, there is, in the middle of the great ,,,,,,,,~«
~,,,,,,,,, hall, a thin spiral staircase that ,,,,,,,,,~
,,,,,,,,,, leads up there. i sneak over there, and ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, take a few reluctant steps. after just ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, a revolution, i notice that for each ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, step the building starts to glow, the ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, bricks turning a dark red, and then ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, orange, all the piled up debree being ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, lit from behind. ,,,,,,,,,,
~,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,~
«~,,,,,,,, i stop ready to run down and out, but ,,,,,,,,~«
/«~,,,,,,, there's someone else on the staircase ,,,,,,,~«/
†/«~,,,,,, with me now, pressed close. he's ,,,,,,~«/†
§†/«~,,,,, looking like me, short hair and thin ,,,,,~«/†§
£§†/«~,,,, arms, but with ears from some animal, ,,,,~«/†§£
#£§†/«~,,, and more disturbingly, completely made ,,,~«/†§£#
##£§†/«~,, of dark liquid glass. ,,~«/†§£##
###£§†/«~, ,~«/†§£###
##£§†/«~,, †† ,,~«/†§£##
#£§†/«~,,, †† †† ,,,~«/†§£#
£§†/«~,,,, ««««««« † † ««««««« ,,,,~«/†§£
§†/«~,,,,, †† †† ,,,,,~«/†§
†/«~,,,,,, †† ,,,,,,~«/†
/«~,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,~«/
«~,,,,,,,, my fear holds me in place while he ,,,,,,,,~«
~,,,,,,,,, starts operating levers and dials set ,,,,,,,,,~
,,,,,,,,,, in the center of the staircase. slowly, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, it starts spinning, circling upwards. ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, it's an elevator! i start to run ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, downwards, but now the liquid boy ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, creature grabs hold of me. i try to ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, shake him off, but he's too strong, and ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, pulls me back up beside him. ,,,,,,,,,,
~,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,~
«~,,,,,,,, this time, i turn angry instead. what ,,,,,,,,~«
/«~,,,,,,, the hell? who is this guy, acting like ,,,,,,,~«/
†/«~,,,,,, this? i reach out my free arm and slam ,,,,,,~«/†
§†/«~,,,,, a random lever. some metal bar is ,,,,,~«/†§
£§†/«~,,,, suddenly released between us, hitting ,,,,~«/†§£
#£§†/«~,,, him on the arm, forcing my release. i ,,,~«/†§£#
##£§†/«~,, shove him off of me, and he falls into ,,~«/†§£##
###£§†/«~, the levers, messing them up. ,~«/†§£###
##£§†/«~,, immediately, a thin rusty chainmail ,,~«/†§£##
#£§†/«~,,, curtain is dropped around me. but the ,,,~«/†§£#
£§†/«~,,,, elevator also speeds up significantly. ,,,,~«/†§£
§†/«~,,,,, ,,,,,~«/†§
†/«~,,,,,, the walls are flaring now, yellow, ,,,,,,~«/†
/«~,,,,,,, white, almost blue. i close my eyes and ,,,,,,,~«/
«~,,,,,,,, curl into a ball. but then, the glass ,,,,,,,,~«
~,,,,,,,,, boy screams, a piercing sound that ,,,,,,,,,~
,,,,,,,,,, forces my eyes back open. i watch as he ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, becomes too liquid, his body pooling ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, down in his now massive tail, and the ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, tip of it suddenly breaks of in a glass ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, drop that falls toward the factory ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, floor. ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
~,,,,,,,,, he's crawling on the stairs, unable to ,,,,,,,,,~
«~,,,,,,,, keep his body upright. can't reach the ,,,,,,,,~«
/«~,,,,,,, levers, claws at my chainmail cage, ,,,,,,,~«/
†/«~,,,,,, while his body is turning into dark ,,,,,,~«/†
§†/«~,,,,, pearls. finally, he's lost too much of ,,,,,~«/†§
£§†/«~,,,, himself and the scream is cut short. ,,,,~«/†§£
#£§†/«~,,, the last of him rains down. ,,,~«/†§£#
##£§†/«~,, ,,~«/†§£##
###£§†/«~, i still can't reach the levers from ,~«/†§£###
##£§†/«~,, within my cage. looking up, i try to ,,~«/†§£##
#£§†/«~,,, make out the ceiling, but it's all a ,,,~«/†§£#
£§†/«~,,,, whirling sea of colours. below me glows ,,,,~«/†§£
§†/«~,,,,, the hellfire of the factory walls, but ,,,,,~«/†§
†/«~,,,,,, very faint. i sit down, curl back up, ,,,,,,~«/†
/«~,,,,,,, become still. ,,,,,,,~«/
«~,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,~«
~,,,,,,,,, †† ,,,,,,,,,~
,,,,,,,,,, †† †† ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ««««««« † † ««««««« ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, †† †† ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, †† ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, a large clunk shakes my entire body, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, and snaps me back into reality. i'm ,,,,,,,,,,
~,,,,,,,,, back at the factory floor, but the ,,,,,,,,,~
«~,,,,,,,, stairs are still moving slightly, ,,,,,,,,~«
/«~,,,,,,, clicking in place, carrying me the last ,,,,,,,~«/
†/«~,,,,,, few centimeters. i came from below, ,,,,,,~«/†
§†/«~,,,,, somehow. the chainmail is retracted, ,,,,,~«/†§
£§†/«~,,,, and i slowly dismount the stairs. ,,,,~«/†§£
#£§†/«~,,, ,,,~«/†§£#
##£§†/«~,, shaking and crying, i make my way over ,,~«/†§£##
###£§†/«~, the factory floor, wading through dark ,~«/†§£###
##£§†/«~,, glass marbles. a quick glance down, and ,,~«/†§£##
#£§†/«~,,, i see there's something faint inside ,,,~«/†§£#
£§†/«~,,,, them. embryos? are these eggs? ,,,,~«/†§£
§†/«~,,,,, ,,,,,~«/†§
†/«~,,,,,, i shudder, and climb back out. ,,,,,,~«/†
††
†† ††
† †
†† ††
††